solar cells

The German PV subsidy program ended
and suddenly they had a lot of panels
that weren't selling so good.
-mo
On 1/11/10 10:19 AM, Robert Bruninga wrote:
>> "solar-cell-grade silicon" was the bottleneck.
>> that's been eased a bit, again with Chinese
>> manufacturing capacity coming online.
>> But with the global downturn, there was a glut for a while. I
> have been drooling over Solar panels for my house for 6 months
> and finally was ready to purchase in Early December twelve 224
> watt SHARP panels. On the day I went to order, the place
> offered German 220W panels for a few % less than the Asian
> panels.
>> Apparently Germany peak production has out stripped their demand
> in the current recession and so their panels are deeply
> discounted. I have heard as much as 40% reduction in price over
> the last year or so.
>> Oh, finally was home this weekend to watch the wattmeter run
> backwards during peak production... Problem was, the NUMBERS
> were still counting forward! No wonder BGE had said that this
> particular TOU meter will not work in a grid-tie system. When I
> am actually backfeeding, the result is they are charging me for
> it! No wonder my electric bill was higher, instead of lower...
>> Problem is, they will not let TOU customers back-feed, because
> they would have to replace all those old TOU meters. (though
> they are required to by law)...
>> Bob
> WB4APR
>>